45 minutes outside of the historical city of Chiang Mai lies another place stepped in even more history and shrouded in ancient Buddhist lore. Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is a very holy place for locals while also being extremely popular with tourists. It’s a must see when visiting Chiang Mai. Just make sure to go to the street across from the North Gate so that you only have to pay 50 baht/person to get a taxi with 9 of your new closest friends.

The first chedi on this site was built way back in 1383. Supposedly a monk found a shoulder bone that was believed to be from The Buddha. This bone had magical powers: it could glow, vanish, move itself, and replicate itself. When the king found out he wanted to put it inside a special temple but on the way to the king this bone used its magic powers to replicate; it was the same shape but smaller. The king took the original relic, put it on top of a royal white elephant, and let it loose into the jungle. The elephant climbed Doi Suthep mountain, circled the top, trumpeted three times, and then laid down and died. The King took this as a sign and ordered a temple to be constructed upon the same site. In the 600+ years since this compound has continued to be built out and now includes an internationally known Vipassana mediation center. Vipassana means they teach insight meditation versus Zen meditation. The subtly in the difference is lost on me though since I’m still a neophyte.